


Take My Hand (Take My Whole Life Too)

by sincline



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-06 20:16:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14655399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sincline/pseuds/sincline
Summary: Tony's hand hurts but Stephen knows just what to do. [COMPLETED]





	Take My Hand (Take My Whole Life Too)

**Author's Note:**

> This is for @thecooingcat on Tumblr. Her headcanon was actually that Stephen is trying to remember all the names of the bones in a human hand, but it turned to hurt comfort. Idek. Hope you like it though, and thanks for the wonderful prompt!

Tony's hand is hurting. His hands ache sometimes from working in the winter with cold hard metal and no gloves.

 

_ Lunate. Scaphoid. Trapezium. _

 

He remembers the first few words perfectly. A soft hand in his. Kisses on his wrist. Tony's heart aches with his hand.

 

_ Trapezoid. Capitate. Hamate. _

 

He forgets the next words but remembers the touch. Tony traces a familiar pattern along his lower palm. He remembers Stephen's fingers twined with his, their palms touching. There was a strange intimacy about it. It was theirs, and theirs only. He remembers holding a warm face in these very hands. These now calloused hands, which have not known company of others in what was probably years. Tony doesn't remember holding another's hand.

 

Tony hasn't thought of Stephen in years. But he does today.

 

~•~

The winter is Tony's favorite season. Well, more like the season he least hates. It was winter when he first met Stephen.

 

They walk down the familiar road to Tony's home, hand in hand, occasionally throwing each other a smile. Tony hoped Stephen thought the blush coloring his cheeks was from the cold. Tony and Stephen were the same age, but Tony had skipped a grade when he was small. Tony was leaving for college next year- more like in a few months- but Stephen was stuck here. For another year at least.

 

Stephen is already studying some biology stuff. He wants to become a surgeon, he's told Tony. Tony knows he's gonna be an excellent one. 

 

Stephen works so hard, Tony worries, but it's what made him fall in love in the first place. He's seventeen and he shouldn't throw around big words like that. But he doesn't know what else to call it. What he feels for Stephen- it isn't just attraction. It's something else. 

 

Suddenly, Stephen turns to him, eyes bright.

 

“Race you to your home?” He asks, running off without waiting for an answer. 

 

“No fair!” Tony yells, taking off after him. Stephen's long legs give him the edge and he's standing there and watching Tony run to him and laughing when-

 

_ SPLAT!  _

 

Tony slips in pool of icy mud. He can see the fall coming clearly, and holds out his hand in front of him, to brace the impact. It's not big, or anything- just that the air in Tony's lungs is replaced with ice and his wrist might be broken. Or sprained at least. Stephen howls with laughter by the door.

 

Tony brushes the mud off his jeans.

 

“This is your fault! Stop laughing!” He yells. Stephen is now clutching his stomach.

 

“Fine!” Tony says, beckoning him inside, “You're not getting  _ any  _ of my essays! You know how Coulson asks the same shit every year-” 

 

“I'll make it up to you!” Stephen yells, quite quickly shutting up.

 

“Sometimes, I think you just want me for my good essays,” Tony says amused, and Stephen laughs.

 

“Are you boys home? Do you need anything to eat?” Maria Stark's voice came from the living room.

 

“We're fine Mrs Stark.”

 

“I'll have orange juice.”

 

They both speak at the same time, and Tony raised an eyebrow at Stephen.

 

“Why am I  _ never  _ on the receiving end of that polite tone?” He asks.

 

“Tony! His mother chides, “Be nice! I'll bring up hot chocolate. That's better than orange juice, don't you think?” 

She knows he loves hot chocolate.

 

“Love you Mom!” Tony throws his arms around her and she smiles fondly.

 

“You boys keep it PG-13,” she warns sternly, and both the boys turn bright red, and Tony actually flees to his room.

 

After they have hot chocolate, and they're cuddling under the blanket, Stephen takes Tony's hand. The one he fell on.

 

“I believe I owe you something,” he says, smiling into Tony's eyes. Tony chuckles and kisses his cheek.

 

“I wasn't serious about the essays,” he says. “ They're yours.” Stephen props himself up on an elbow.

 

“Anthony Stark. Are you refusing special treatment from me?” He asks sternly. Tony laughs.

 

“I wouldn't if I could.”

 

“Then give me your hand,” Stephen commands, falling back on the pillow and holding Tony's slightly swollen wrist in his hand, studying it with more intensity than a hand should be studied with.

 

“Lets begin with your very dainty radius and ulna,” Stephen says, pressing his long fingers against Tony's wrist. The pressure feels good and Tony almost sighs.

 

“Not dainty,” he mutters, but Stephen pays him no mind, kissing his wrist softly.

 

“Lunate,” he says, kissing swiftly after each word, “Scaphoid, trapezium.”

 

“Trapezoid,” his voice comes muffled and he smiles against Tony's palm. Tony's watching Stephen with a hitched breath. He can't believe that this amazing human was all his. Stephen continued naming the bones in Tony's hand, pressing and kissing everywhere.

 

His wrist joint takes the longest, and while Stephen can't kiss every bone there, he massages his lower palm, where the skin is slightly bruised and reddened.

 

“Metacarpus,” Stephen's fingers trace his upper palm now.

 

“Phalanges,” Stephen weaves his fingers through Tony's. 

 

“Distal phalange.”

 

He kisses the tip of Tony's middle finger before pressing Tony's palm against his cheek. Tony curls his fingers in Stephen’s hair.

 

“You don't know,” Tony whispers, feeling closer to Stephen than he's ever felt with another human who wasn't family. “You don't know lucky I am to have you.”

 

Stephen only smiles and leans in to kiss Tony. It's their first kiss that's not on the cheek. Their first real kiss. It isn't anything like in the books and movies. Tony doesn't feel fireworks or electricity shoot through him.

 

He feels warm. He feels steady with Stephen's lips against him. He feels like the world could fall apart but they would stay warm even in the winter, like this forever. They break apart after what might either have been seconds or hours.

 

“That, uhm. That went better than I thought,” Stephen says, flushed in the face and his hand still on the back of Tony's neck.

 

“Stephen Strange,” Tony says in wonder, “I might just be in love you.”

 

~•~

 

Stephen has never run faster in his entire life. He runs, dodging people and their bags both. He runs like his life depends on it.

 

He sees Maria standing in the visitor's area.

 

“Mrs Stark- where is he?” Stephen sputters, but Maria smiles sadly.

 

“He  _ just  _ left, dear. He waited till the last announcement, and he had to go,” she said, as soothingly as possible.

 

“No,” Stephen said, “No, no, no, no!” In his left jacket pocket, the envelope felt heavy. He felt a tear prick his eyes and a lump in his throat.

 

Maria Stark pulled him in an embrace. The elaborate sketch of Tony's left hand stayed folded in his pocket.

 

~•~

It's winter again and Tony's home. He he's missed it more than he'd thought he would.

 

“You missed him by a second, Tony.”

 

Tony freezes mid bite. Maria's excellent pie falls back to the plate.

 

“He was crying and shaking- oh he was so sad, Tony. It took me and Beverly hours to calm him down. And then he got that scholarship. Best med school in Europe they called it.”

 

“It's- it's fine, mom,” he says. “It doesn't matter now.”

 

~•~

 

Tony's hand still hurts when he gets the phone call. 

 

“Tones- it's Rhodey. Come to St. Francis Hospital immediately.”

 

Tony almost crashes his car three times getting there. He races up to the hospital, wastes no time in finding Bruce, Pepper and Rhodey’s mother.

 

“He crashed his car, Tony,” Pepper cries in his chest. “His neck got crushed.” 

 

Tony comforts her and Rhodey's mom, who's surprisingly strong. Gets Bruce coffee. 

 

They wait for six hours outside. Six hours of misery and Rhodey- hopefully- holding on. They all get up when a doctor comes out of the operation theatre.

 

“Doctor Palmer,” Bruce says. The doctor looks tired but satisfied.

 

“We had a successful operation. He won't be awake for about another day, but he's stable now.” Tony visibly sags against a wall, tuning out the other things she was saying. Rhodey was safe.

 

“Oh, I didn't lead the operation,” she says when Tony thanks her. “Doctor Strange did. You can meet him in a bit.” 

 

And she leaves with that, sending Tony's world spinning. These are feelings he's carefully hid for eight years. And one word is enough to recover every moment he's spent with and without Stephen. He can't handle the words ‘meet’ and ‘Strange’ in the same conversation.

 

He only knew one Strange. Sure enough, the air got knocked out of Tony's lungs when he saw Stephen come out of the operation theatre and hurry away to what Tony assumed was his office.

 

He looked  _ handsome. _

 

Well, of course he did. And now Tony was suddenly aware of how much of a mess he looked, in a band t shirt and old jeans, while Stephen looked so put together and crisp clean. Tony excused himself to the bathroom.

 

He splashed water on his face and tried to mow down his hair, which made it look worse, so he left it alone.

 

Stephen was already going over the details with Bruce and Mrs Rhodes when he arrives.

 

“Don't worry about the bills- you can pay them over-”

 

He sees Tony. And Tony sees him for the first time in years. And his eyes are still exactly like Tony remembers.

 

“You can- you should go over that with Dr Palmer once.”

 

Stephen stands there staring at Tony while Bruce goes to talk with Palmer and Pepper convinces Mrs Rhodes to get some rest. Tony's alone in the corridor with him.

 

“Tony,” he whispers. Tony can't say anything- he physically can't, with the lump in his throat that tells him he's about to cry.

 

Before he can react, he's pulled in a hug.

 

“I've missed you- God I've missed your scent-”

 

Stephen is crying. Tony clutches him to his chest like he's never gonna let go and maybe he isn't. They break apart after an eternity and Stephen laces their fingers.

 

“Let's go to my office,” he says, “We need to talk.”

 

Once inside, Stephen takes out a diary from his bag and hands Tony a paper. It's a sketch of Tony's hand, his left one. Every detail perfect. The date on the faded paper is of eight years ago.

 

“I wanted to give it you,” Stephen says, voice thick. “But I was la-”

 

Tony's too busy kissing him.

 

~•~

 

Tony's just finished working on a new project. He comes home late, he's annoyed with a about a billion people, and it doesn't help when he trips over the fucking door mat right on his left. 

 

“Are you okay?” Stephen asks, appearing in the doorway. Tony only holds up his calloused hand and sore wrist.

 

They're tucked in nice and warm when Stephen takes his left hand and inspects it.

 

“What do you say, Mister Doctor?” Tony asks.

“Let's begin with your very dainty radius and ulna,” Stephen answers.

  
  
  


**Fin.**

  
  
  
  
  
  



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